Recap: An Evening with Devon Gilfillian, SNACKTIME, and Danielle Ponder

Sometimes you have to start at the end to get to the beginning — and the exhilarating finale of WFUV’s “An Evening with Devon Gilfillian, SNACKTIME, and special guest Danielle Ponder” at Sony Hall on Wednesday night was one of the most riveting in FUV benefit concert history as Gilfillian and SNACKTIME blazed through a faithfully excoriating cover of Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 protest anthem, “Killing In the Name.” 

Gilfillian and SNACKTIME are good friends — they’ve been touring together this year — and that electrifying denouement was a peak collaborative moment as Gilfillian and SNACKTIME bassist Sam Gellerstein vigorously swapped lead vocals (and SNACKTIME vocalist Nico Bryant gallivanted with ecstatic abandon, ending up with his shirt pulled up over his head in rapturous glee). 

There is a lot to speak up and out about too — and Gilfillian, SNACKTIME, and Ponder entreated the Sony Hall crowd with heartfelt requests: to seize the grace of life’s gifts, live every day to the fullest, and treat others with equity and fairness. Collaboration is key to communal connection — and FUV’s second “An Evening With” was evident of that strength and also reflected the test of personal travails and how that pain can alter a songwriter's path. 

Nashville-based Devon Gilfillian, joined by bandmates Jonathan Smalt (drums), Taylor Thompson (bass), and Joshua Blaylock (keys), spoke frankly about how a fading relationship and his father’s medical crisis informed his new album, Time Will Tell. Ripping though bluesy, smoky rockers like the crunchy 2026 single “Black Dog Rabbit Hole” or the decade-old “Travelin’ Blues,” Gilfillian impressed across the board. He's a commanding guitarist, leaning on his blonde Fender for the bulk of the set, only setting it aside for more tender ballads.

“Unchained,” which Gilfillian explained was about his paraplegic brother Ryan (“It hasn’t slowed him down!”), resonated with power and genuine poignancy. The beauty and breadth of Gilfillian’s sweet tenor truly reaches its apex with his quieter turns: the gorgeous “Hold On (Hourglass),” “Time Will Tell” (about his father), and the sensual groove of “All I Really Wanna Do.” 

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s 2020 murder during the pandemic, Gilfillian and friends passionately took on the challenge of recording an inspired, intuitive cover of the whole of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On — and Gilfillian dipped into the title track on this night (movingly on the same evening that Democrat Scott Colom officially became first Black senator-elect of Mississippi). SNACKTIME saxophonist Ben Stocker joined Gilfillian and band for a rowdy take on “IRL” from Time Will Tell – bringing things full circle for the combined Rage finale  

“Life is crazy, life is beautiful,” implored Gilfillian partway through his set. “Don’t take that time for granted.”

If musicians can be soulmates, SNACKTIME and Gilfillian fit that bill. Both hail from the Philadelphia area — and that eclectic city of brotherly love defines what SNACKTIME is all about. 

There’s a good reason why SNACKTIME is on the rise with plenty of buzz nipping at their heels — few bands are as much fun on stage, giving a thousand percent — and the septet ricochets between genres with head-spinning adroitness. Given their professed love of snacks, it's a full-plate special of SNACKTIME's own funked-up sound of Philly, combined wit Earth, Wind & Fire-level jubilance, a pinch of Clipping's experimental charisma, and even a Minneapolis-style strut (think vintage Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Morris Day and The Time). The SNACKTIME septet — singer Nico Bryant, bassist/backing vocalist Sam Gellerstein, drummer Austin Malrow, saxophonists Ben Stoker, keyboardist/trombonist Michael Spearman, and guitarists Larry Monroe Jr. ad Eric Sherman — have come a long way since their early days of free Covid-era gigs on Rittenhouse Square and will release a much-anticipated debut album in 2027. 

From their seven-song set's luminous opening salvo of “Sunshine” to their closer, their 2026 single “Can’t Imagine Why You’d Stay” (for which WFUV got a sweet shoutout for supporting), SNACKTIME gave their all. Older tracks like “SPACELUV,” from their 2024 EP of the same name, even gave way to witty, synchronized choreography, led by the athletic Bryant (a Delaware native) who shimmied and vaulted across the stage; a powerful frontman who brings a vivacious, neo-soul savvy to SNACKTIME’s sound, especially on the new “Find Her Lovin’ Again.” Every single member of SNACKTIME is a superb musician — the solo spotlights gave everyone a chance to shine — and SNACKTIME satisfies with heart, guts, and volcanic bliss. 

Former Rochester public defender and powerhouse vocalist Danielle Ponder left law to pursue her dream — and she released her second, critically-acclaimed album this year, Everything Has Changed, and pulled songs from that release for her brief but impactful set on this evening.

If anyone had a thesis for their set last night, it was Ponder, bookending her performances with two resonant tracks: the opening “God of You” and the closer, "Everything Has Changed." She bantered and posited at length about feminism (“for everyone”) and the lifebuoy of female friendships when men let her down (except for her father and brother). Accompanied on songs, including the new “Garden” and “Sun and Moon," with just guitarist Sharod Allen by her side, Ponder’s voice, which ripples with inner strength but a discernable vulnerability too, is a monument of resilience.

Public radio is another shrine to resilience as well, given 2025’s severe federal funding cuts across the board, impacting WFUV and other public broadcasting outlets. The deep affection for FUV shouted out by Gillfillian and SNACKTIME onstage — and the generous participation of all of the musicians for the station's important benefit concert, “An Evening with Devon Gilfillian, SNACKTIME and Danielle Ponder," was incredibly meaningful, as was the support of every single person who bought a ticket to be at Sony Hall on November 11. 

It was a night of discovery, beauty, collaboration, love, and tender ‘n’ tough maxims — and as Gilfillian and SNACKTIME crisply volleyed the heated Rage refrain of “And now they do what you they told ya” into the air — there was also perceptible hope that change for the better could happen.

[Hosted by Alisa Ali and Russ Borris. Thanks to Hear No Evil and Sony Hall. And thanks to all of the FUV members, volunteers and Fordham University students who contributed their time.]